WFDF approves the Flying Disc Associations of Bahrain, Brunei, and Jordan, bringing its national membership to 80 countries

04 May 2018

The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that its Congress has approved the Flying Disc Associations of Bahrain (BFDA), Brunei (BFDA), and Jordan (JFDF) as its newest Member associations, increasing WFDF’s membership to 80 national member associations.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome the national associations from Bahrain, Brunei, and Jordan to the WFDF Flying Disc family as new members from Asia,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “Expanding our membership in the MENA region and southeast Asia shows how WFDF’s development program initiated five years ago has proven to be successful in developing countries, and we are currently working with several other candidates, looking forward to further increasing the WFDF membership footprint across the globe.”

For the Bahrain Flying Disc Association, President Moosa Awadah stated "The Kingdom of Bahrain is looking forward to an amazing cooperative movement with the World Flying Disc Federation in improving and making all disc sports available to the inhabitants of our island. We are hopeful and determined in making the most of our membership to better spread the sport of Ultimate. As the president of the Bahrain Flying Disc Association, I have never been more optimistic about the future of disc sports in Bahrain."

“Brunei Flying Disc Association will be committed in bringing Ultimate to the next level here in Brunei,” added Ibnu Hafiz Zulkefli. “We thank WFDF and its members for this exciting opportunity. For a sport that has been continuously growing in our country, being part of the WFDF will give us opportunities for more ways to share the knowledge and experiences to players across our country. You can expect BFDA to bring in more international players and host clinics to further our level of understanding of Spirit and Ultimate in Brunei. We also look forward to expanding our coaching programs and develop Brunei's youth alike, along with future joint clinics with neighboring countries. It is an honour to become a part of something bigger, something better.”

“The Jordan Flying Disc Federation represents a community of players that are hungry to see the growth of Ultimate in their country and region. We are excited to finally be a part of the WFDF family and are looking forward to attending and perhaps even hosting events in the future,” commented Jordan Flying Disc Federation President Nate Harper, on the approval of the application for membership of Jordan.

Latest WFDF Communiques

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has received today the official notification by Paris 2024 that Flying Disc was not selected as an additional sport for the 2024 edition of the Olympic Games.

Paris 2024 Sport Director Jean-Philippe Gatien wrote to WFDF President Rauch that “after careful consideration, the Paris 2024 Executive team has reached a final decision” and that Flying Disc “has not been selected to be put forward to the IOC to become a part of the Olympic Games 2024 sports programme.”

The sports of Surfing, Skateboarding, Sport Climbing, and Breaking were selected by Paris 2024 as additional sports to be put forward to the IOC for approval, as was announced at their Press Conference in Paris this morning.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), the international sports federation recognized by the IOC that is responsible for world governance of flying disc (frisbee) sports, is seeking one or two individuals to serve as an Event Coordinator (50%) and Administrative Coordinator (50%) to support the growth of our expanding organization. The positions contemplate a part-time (50%) consultancy opportunity for each position, although an individual with the right qualifications could be considered for both areas in a full-time consultancy position. The positions are virtual and so the applicant would need to demonstrate access to the office equipment required to perform the job.

The World Flying Disc Federation Board (WFDF) Executive Committee, Board members, Committee and Commission Chairs, Continental Representatives and staff come together for two and a half days of strategic discussions that will set the tone for Flying Disc for years to come.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring together a team of twenty WFDF board and key staffers for intense and productive discussions in New York City at our board meeting and strategic planning session this weekend,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “The WFDF board and staff are located across 12 different countries across global time zones and getting together primarily occurs during our monthly board meetings via a conference call. The 30 hours of meeting time this weekend significantly increases the productivity of discussions, reduces time in making decisions, and improves the work input, while building on the strength and comradeship of the WFDF key heads, making this meeting very important. ”

WFDF’s mission statement “to support and promote the global advancement of disc sports and spirit of the game” will be top of mind in all discussions as the group takes direct input and feedback from key representatives from multiple continents representing all the different Flying Disc Sports: Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Disc Golf, Freestyle, Guts and Individual Overall Sports.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), in cooperation with the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), is releasing the second edition of the world rankings for disc golf by country. USA remain the top ranked team in the world, followed by Canada, Finland, New Zealand and Estonia.The criteria for ranking countries are a combination of performance at WFDF World Team Disc Golf Championships and the PDGA ratings for top male and female players.

“The second edition of the WFDF World Disc Golf Rankings marks another significant step forward for WFDF members and countries affiliated with PDGA,” said Charlie Mead, the WFDF Disc Golf Committee chair.“As the criteria for ranking becomes known to the wider disc golf-playing world, National Associations are focusing their attention on how to move up the list. The inclusion of more women and juniors in the calculations for some countries has made a positive difference to their position.”

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has announced the results of its 2018 elections. This comes after the international federation recognized by the IOC for Flying Disc sports had executed a major revamp of its governance structure and Board composition that had been unanimously approved by the WFDF membership in the autumn of 2018. Among other positions, the membership re-elected Robert “Nob“ Rauch as President for an additional two-year term.

“WFDF is excited about the revisions to our governance structure with the expansion of the Board of Directors, bringing in the heads of our Continental associations and formalizing several other ex-officio positions. We are also extremely pleased to have increased the number of women on the Board to seven out of the eighteen members as we continue to pursue gender equality in our goverenance structure as well as in our competitive events,”commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that it has launched its new wfdf.sport domain name and related portfolio under the “.sport” domain name program initiated and managed by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) to which WFDF belongs as a member.

“In today´s internet world of so many domain names and extensions, WFDF´s use of the wfdf.sport domain will provide much greater visibility and searchability for the Flying Disc community names. Using the strict criteria applied by GAISF enhances the legitimacy and credibility of Flying Disc‘s public communications and makes us a member of the exclusive ‘.sport‘ community,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.

The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that its Congress has approved the Flying Disc Associations of Kazakhstan, Malta, Sri Lanka, and U.S. Virgin Islands as its newest Member associations, increasing WFDF’s membership to 84 national member associations.

“WFDF is proud to welcome the four new member associations to the WFDF flying disc family concluding the latest admission process overseen by our Executive Director Volker Bernardi,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has approved VC Ultimate as the WFDF Official Apparel Supplier and Partner for 2019-2022. VC Ultimate, based in Toronto, Canada, receives the exclusive opportunity to develop and sell selected official event merchandise and apparel for the WFDF Ultimate Championship events for the four-year term.In return, this partnership will provide benefits to the players and teams, event organizers and to WFDF. VC Ultimate will also continue to work with WFDF to develop and market WFDF-branded gear to be sold through their Canadian, American and European online stores.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has approved Discraft as the WFDF Official Disc Supplier and Partner for 2019-2022. Discraft Inc., based in Michigan, USA, will receive the exclusive rights to produce “Official WFDF Ultimate Discs” for sale through merchandise channels and will be the supplier of the “Official Game Discs” during all WFDF Ultimate Championship events during this four-year period. It will also include sponsorship of the WFDF World Team Disc Golf and Freestyle Championships. In return, this partnership will provide benefits to both WFDF and its sanctioned event organizers. For events, Discraft will provide discounted rates on the purchase of discs for event sales and a number of official game discs. It will also provide discs and sponsorship funding to support WFDF’s development programs and general activities.

WFDF is pleased to announce that the WFDF 2020 World Masters Ultimate Championships (WMUC 2020) will be staged in Gold Coast, Australia from Saturday 5th September to Saturday 12th September 2020 at the Runaway Bay Sport Precinct. The tournament organizing committee (TOC) is WFDF member national federation the Australian Flying Disc Association (AFDA), which had hosted the WFDF 2018 World Under-24 Ultimate Championships and the WFDF 2006 World Ultimate Club Championships with great success.

“We are thrilled to receive a great bid from an experienced Tournament Organizer to host the inaugural stand-alone National Team event for masters-aged athletes following the great participation we had at the Masters Club championships held this past summer in Canada,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “It is great to showcase these masters’ athletes, and provide an opportunity for them to continue to complete at the highest level over the course of their lives. Many thanks to our tournament organizing committee, AFDA, the City of Gold Coast and Tourism Events Queensland who are working together to make WMUC 2020 a remarkable event.”